Bega's tracks had led much farther than Theluli had expected. They were wandering, and it seemed rather like he didn't know just where he was going. Or it hadn't, until she lost the trail following a heavy rain. She'd cried through the storm, but the falling water had hidden her tears. She was swiftly starting to lose hope in finding the male that had seduced her and then left her lonely in the morning, so many days ago. Part of her had begun to wonder if maybe it was for the best. She'd been pushing herself to catch up with him, and over the days she'd given herself less time to rest, or to hunt. She was famished, she realized, and lost without his prints to follow. Maybe she should stop for a break.
Maybe she should give up.
Ugh! What a waste of time. Her sorrow had swung back towards anger after the release of crying, and perhaps that was a good thing. It wasn't looking like she was going to find the trail any time soon. Instead, she went hunting. She'd come to a bit of jungle before losing her way, and now wove between the trees, seeking anything she could easily snap up. She was frankly ravenous.
It was while stalking a monkey that had clambered down from the trees to eat something off the ground that she found the prints. Lion prints! And so fresh! She had no way of knowing who they belonged to, but irrationally she assumed they must be Bega's. With a whoop that sent the primate screeching and scrambling back up one of the thick tree trunks, she was off, crashing through underbrush, calling, "Lion! Lion!" And a lion she found. She rounded a bend and came face to face with raised fur and flashing teeth.
"Halt!" The gray lioness barked at her. The poor startled cheetah all but fell over herself not to run into her. "Who goes there? Are you friend, runner, or foe? I warn you, this land belongs to my pride, and I would have your name before you go charging in and making trouble!" The Bahari might be a peaceful pride, but Areli took her job very, very seriously. There had been enough upheaval and trouble of late, and though the cheetah looked harmless, one never knew. She stepped forward, still bristling, ready to send the interloper running if it came to that.
For her part, Theluli cowered. This was much more akin to what she was used to from lions. But not her lion. When she found him, he'd protect her for this sort of thing, wouldn't he? "I'm sorry...I was looking for someone, and I thought your tracks were his!" She explained, peering up at the stern-faced guard. "I didn't mean to trespass. I'm just looking for my lion."
"Your lion?" That made Areli raise a brow. What cheetah had claim to a lion? Still, she did seem harmless. She dropped the scary guard act and sat back on her haunches. Her eyes traced the slim figure of the other female. If she was trouble, she'd be easy enough to overpower, at least. "What makes you think...whoever it is you're looking for, came this way? And why're you looking for them?" Like it or not, her interest was piqued.
Theluli sensed that she should probably beat it soon, but perhaps she could get directions from the lioness. she was obviously a guard of sorts, so maybe someone had seen her lion going by recently. "Y-yes. My lion. Well. Sort of mine. He's...well...we..." She cleared her throat and looked away, and felt the burning of the lioness' judgmental look. "Anyway, he went on ahead, and I followed his tracks," Not entirely the truth, "But the rain washed them away, and now I'm not sure where to go. He, he was leading the way to his pride! He wanted to make things ready for me, that's why I was behind." Not the truth at all. "But maybe he knows the rain got me lost, and he came back this way...aaand I was wondering if...maybe you know of a big white and orange lion coming through here?" And top of all the lies with her best smile.
"...Does he have a name?" Alright, so the story was far-fetched. Still, she'd heard of these hybrid couples before, and stranger things had happened. She for one hadn't seen any lion matching that description about, but maybe the others had. She had seen tracks though, so she could offer that. Maybe. She was still deciding if she trusted or liked the female. Well...they had led away from the pride. Sending her off that way should save them some trouble, if she was any. "I didn't see him, but there were some tracks. Going that way?" She nodded off in one direction, to the west, mainly, and a bit north.
Theluli, meanwhile, was agonizing over the question posed to her. Her lion hadn't given her his name before he left! It stung her, thinking of how quickly he'd wooed her (was it really only to have a roll with her? No! It couldn't be!) and left. But then, what? Something about tracks? Without even stopping to apologize, she was off and running. She didn't notice the lioness start to lunge, mistaking her sudden movement for an attack, but luckily the gray lioness' claws had been pulled back at the last second. Well. That was one way to get rid of interlopers.
Despite the strangeness of the situation, Areli decided to wish the cheetah luck. It was possible she was telling the truth after all, and she certainly seemed desperate. She turned to get back to her patrolling, and later that day would wonder again about the strange blue female, and what kind of male could make so much of an impression on her as to go chasing after him across the wild rogue lands. She'd certainly never met a male that made her feel that way before. It seemed terribly foolish when she thought about it under the sensible light of day.
Later that night, lying alone in her den, she would wonder more intensely about it. And sleep would be slow coming as she mulled over what it must feel like to be so intensely, desperately in love that you would chase your mate across the world. She would still be wondering as she drifted off to sleep, and Theluli collapsed once again from exhaustion, lying in the tracks of her erstwhile lover.
(Words: 1105)
